Firing outside Israeli diplomat's house in south Delhi

Unidentified men travelling in a SUV fired blank shots in the air in South Delhi’s Vasant Vihar in the early hours of Sunday. The spot is close to residences of diplomats, including those from Israel.

Senior Delhi police officers suspect that the shots were fired to create panic among the local residents and the police. They claimed that two empty bullet casings that were found on the road were apparently fired from a starter pistol, a handgun generally used in track and field events.

Officials from the Israeli embassy confirmed that no damage to property or injury to any Israeli national in the firing was reported. The spokesperson of the Israel embassy said the teams from the Delhi police are probing the incident.

“There was a firing incident in one of the streets in Vasant Vihar. All Israeli nationals are safe. The Israeli Embassy is in touch with the Delhi Police. The target is still being investigated,” Ohad Horsandi, Israel embassy spokesperson, told HT.

According to a senior police officer, the incident took place at around 1.45 am outside a house located on Vasant Marg. Several Israeli nationals, including some working with the Israeli Embassy, live in the house that is located right opposite a prominent private school.

The incident was reported to the police by a security guard at the school.

“The security guard told us that he saw some men in an Innova car. One of them took out his hand from the moving vehicle and fired twice in the air and sped away. The security guard panicked thinking it to be a major security breach and informed the police. He was neither able to note down the registration number of the vehicle nor was in a position to identify any of the suspects,” said the senior officer.

Senior police officers from south district police and their counterparts in the Special Cell reached the scene and began probe. In 2012, the wife of an Israeli diplomat and three others were injured in a car bomb blast.

Sources in the police said that investigators are relying on the footage from CCTVs installed in the nearby buildings, including that in the school and at the nearby Embassy of Republic of Paraguay. Also, the CCTV cameras on the possible routes taken by the miscreants are being scanned, they said.